Dinosaurs Unearthed

Bring the prehistoric past back to life with an expedition to Alberta's premier attraction for all ages of budding palaeontologists - The Royal Tyrrell Museum near Drumheller, Alberta. Millions of years ago the landscape was immensely different. Huge land dinosaurs, massive sea creatures, thick tropical forests and tiny yet significant insects dominated the prolific area. Now they lay under crops and thick layers of sediment to slowly be discovered. The Tyrrell Museum is home to some of the most significant fossils on the planet—everything from a stunning Tyrannosaurus rex to a flying turtle to proof that some dinosaurs had feathers! Inside the museum thousands of fossils are displayed in realistic settings while outside on the trails, fossils tempt the palaeontologist who lead the hikes. The first fossil found here – the Albertosaurus sarcophagus - was found by a geologist looking for coal. Spend time in the Red Deer Valley to see how the two histories co-exist.

Why you should visit

See 200 million years of evolution go by in ten quick paces in the Terrestrial Palaeozoic exhibit. Try to design your own species on the interactive displays.

Witness the interaction of species as they battle for survival in the world’s largest collection of dinosaur skeletons in the breath-taking Dinosaur Hall.

See Canada’s largest collection of living prehistoric plants in the Cretaceous Garden, then watch as fossils are painstakingly preserved by palaeontologists in the lab.